Canadian biotechnology company StressGen, which focuses on the development of stress or "heat shock" proteins as therapies for infectious diseases and cancer, believes it is about 18 months away from filing its first Investigational New Drug application.
StressGen president Richard Glickman explained that when cells in the body encounter a hostile situation such as a toxin, they respond to protect themselves by generating and synthesizing a unique family of molecules, called stress proteins, which are thought to be involved in the repair mechanism of cells and provide further protection against injury. Stress proteins are present all the time in the body, and seem to be involved in a number of normal cellular functions such as cell development and growth. Production of stress proteins is not limited to eukaryotic cells, however. Bacteria and other infectious organisms also produce them, and these families of stress proteins appear to be primary targets for the host immune system.
StressGen has developed a technology called Unigen or "universal antigen," which is aimed at using genetically engineered stress proteins as vaccines against infections and cancer, either alone or in combination with antigens. Three product areas are under development: a genetically-engineered subunit vaccine against tuberculosis; subunit vaccines against other infectious diseases; and therapeutic cancer vaccines (see diagram).
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